I am not sure whether anybody in the USA has ever noticed,
that the former USSR (Soviet Union) manufactured some of the nicest and most ingenious
High Quality (!) Hi-Fi stuff around...
Allmost all those technical miracles were manufactured in their red spaceprogram, aircraft and weapon factory plants...
(TRUDA Mockba and AEOLUS KIEV for example)
In Germany we call it "Klingonen-Hifi" because that CCCP HiFi stuff is so extremely cool and heavy duty, that
it deserved a place in a Star Trek K´Tinga Klingon Cruiser for crew entertainment. :)

There is quite a huge Vintage-HIFI culture hidden in the former USSR /Russia (Klingon Empire) ;) ...

so take a closer look here:

http://old-fidelity.de/thread-2383.html

and take some time for watching all those huge photos and schematics,
its just a very nice and most informative picture loaded German language based thread about
"Klingon Hifi" made in USSR and eastern Europe as Romania, Bulgaria, Poland...:

http://i42.tinypic.com/2njhy0m.png
Soviet-Klingon "KOPBEM" super high Quality Power Amp from the late 70s and early 80s.

http://i43.tinypic.com/24gk1n9.png
it might have been stolen right from here... :)

and so on....

Kindest regards from Germany

Willy

audiojones

03-22-2012, 08:15 AM

Impressive build, plus you wouldn't have to worry about them "honoring" their warranty! Perfect for listening to Klingon opera or background music during battle. :boxing:

Tom Brennan

03-22-2012, 08:27 AM

Interesting.

philviral

03-22-2012, 08:34 AM

Pretty neat turntable!

TheEvan

03-22-2012, 08:52 AM

That receiver is the cooolest ever!

guiller

03-22-2012, 09:07 AM

Very interesting, thanks for the link! Where are the tubes? :D

AnalogDigit

03-22-2012, 09:13 AM

Love the designs.

Cogsinister

03-22-2012, 09:15 AM

Wow!!!!!

Sandy G

03-22-2012, 09:21 AM

Kewl stuff ! Thanks for sharing !

Fisherdude

03-22-2012, 09:35 AM

Two identical threads in two different forums merged.

gladiator335

03-22-2012, 10:22 AM

More pictures of a turntable are here:

http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/korwet003.html

ehoove

03-22-2012, 10:27 AM

More pictures of a turntable are here:

http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/korwet003.html

Thanks for the link!
Regards,
Jim

Hoho

03-22-2012, 10:34 AM

I think April Fool's Day is early this year.

ChrisMarantz

03-22-2012, 10:38 AM

I've never trusted the Klingons and I never will. . .

CNIPM

03-22-2012, 10:43 AM

Hallo,

thanks for watching our German "Klingon Hifi" thread, maybe we can also
find some USSR Hifi machines that did their way to the USA?

Anybody here owning such pieces of Hifi or Radios made in former communist
countries?

(Not only USSR, maybe also Poland or Czechoslovakia etc..)

Well, I am German, not many of my friends here can understand why I
do like russian hifi, but that doesnt bother me...
I just like the tank built quality of that "bad" stuff. :)
AND I love the non-conventional layout and styling of Soviet-Russian equipment design .
(allmost Klingon-like)

http://i39.tinypic.com/jhvekz.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/14btafo.jpg

Russian (and some other eastern-bloc hifi)
truly is of an unusual "handmade" quality...very much like saying to the rest of the world:

"MONEY DOES NOT MATTER, WE ONLY DO THE BEST..."

A typical example of what fascinates me, is the intelligent (and expensive) construction of their stuff:
(Well I am a vintage-tech lover...and I cant even find this kind of quality in Marantz or XXL Japanese stuff,
russian Hifi is even more massive, and quite good...remarkably nice sound!)

In these soviet monster amps you can even find expensive 1000 Watts (!) splitcore "ISKRA brand" Transformers
(ISKRA means: "SPARK or FLASH")
The example in this amp here was taken from airforce radar operation desk manufacturing plant "SVERDLOVSK"
Such ULTRA HEAVY DUTY MILITARY-PARTS only the soviets used for their "top of the line" Hifi.

http://i43.tinypic.com/33yqseo.jpg
Easy to maintain power amp housing -- it just opens up like a book,
Soviet "hifi machines" are designed from Airspace Radio-engineers so they share that "maintainability" ;)
with professional Red Military electronical stuff...

http://i44.tinypic.com/a5ylw.jpg
Now thats a "klingon power plant" with plenty of nice selected low noise soviet KT Transistors made by TRUDA MOCKBA, same company installing all the electronics to soviet MIG and Sukhoi Fighter aircrafts. And this is only one single channel, the amplifier has 2 channels of that...

http://i42.tinypic.com/8webuh.jpg
Even enough power for this "Klingon version" of the good old "MIG" :) ;)

Other hifi from eastern bloc / (not only CCCP-Russia)
is also very much like the good old German Telefunken, DUAL and Grundig Hifi brands from the 70s and 80s.
Remarkably solid construction all around, those "eastern-bloc Amplifiers" truly are heavy duty high quality and they can perform
pretty good. (Compare this polish Unitra-HGS-Altus Amp to the better Marantz or Sansuis...)

http://i42.tinypic.com/35alshk.jpg
This HGS ALTUS integrated Amplifier DUAL MONO (2x100 Watt RMS at 8 Ohms ) was made in 1985 by UNITRA / RADMOR in POLAND / KRAKOW plant, a good sounding machine ! (I have it here, and it shows that Poland also was able to build very good quality Hifi during the cold war era...) Today the RADMOR Company of Poland is manufacturing high quality missile and tank gun control electronics...in the past they also did for the Warsaw pact...

http://i43.tinypic.com/14n2tle.jpg
Soviet Russian Orbita Stereo de Luxe System from the 80s

Olymp 006 top of the line tape reel to reel recorder made in USSR (UKRAINA) 1987

http://i40.tinypic.com/256a5q8.jpg

(Of course after all those years some capacitors may need change and some pots cleaning with deoxit,
but thats the same story with all kind of vintage stuff all around the world...)

Soviet Hifi is very good, but very few people know that. (In Germany a lot of "audio enthusiasts"
just do not want to see that and tell me:
LOOKS GOOD, BUT CANT BE GOOD. ;) )
When I ask them: "why?", they usually say soemthing like: " its from russia...."
To me that´s not an argument, because I can trust my ears and technical experience. ;)

Kindest regards

Willy

gearhound

03-22-2012, 11:04 AM

.....along with a built-in microphone and transmitter, so that Comrade KGB can listen to you trashing the glorious Party leaders..............................

........for the LAST time.

Steve

bd1886

03-22-2012, 11:05 AM

This Soviet/East Block stuff is neat and thanks for sharing......have a cousin who visits and wonder how much is out there? Daaaqck!

Wally Swift

03-22-2012, 11:20 AM

I bought a commie-era TESLA VHS machine when I lived in the Czech Republic. My Czech friends laughed at me and would say "TESLA....teknicky slaby" [technologically poor]

CNIPM

03-22-2012, 11:33 AM

Hallo,
Tesla was using lots of Philips patents under true Philips licence... (Not stolen patents ;) )
their CD Players used 100% Philips TDA 1740 and TDA1741 boards and processors,
the Czech VHS might be a clone of a former Philips machine...
Tesla made some good stuff too, I have speakers from Tesla, they sound as good
as contemporary Grundig speakers.. good.

Best regards

Willy

frankxbe

03-22-2012, 02:06 PM

Interesting thanks for posting

daviddeep

03-22-2012, 02:13 PM

I'd love to see one of those KOPBEM turntables in person. That's pretty far out.

Cogsinister

03-22-2012, 02:15 PM

I'd love to see one of those KOPBEM turntables in person. That's pretty far out.

Yeah i seriously want one, but they are for 50hz power, i think that would be problematic over there.

gladiator335

03-22-2012, 02:26 PM

Let's get one thing straight-it was called Korvet (same as Corvette).

OldSch00l

03-22-2012, 02:28 PM

WOW! Some really interesting stuff! :thmbsp:

CNIPM

03-22-2012, 02:48 PM

Here you can see both soviet high tech super-turntables, also the tangantial Electronica b1-04

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EL2b1Ov2ug

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz_l973Ns88&feature=related

Here you can see both versions of the KORVET Klingon tuntable, there are two versions,
the older one has the straight line platter, the newer one has the spike peak platter,
both are direct drive and can be adjusted form 50 to 60 cycles (turn down the speed fine control),
but they need 220 Volts so in the USA a voltage step up transformer would be needed.

The body and the dampened "rocket nozzle shaped" feet are made from alloy and titanium,
no cheap plastic :)

Best regards

Willy

Urchinn

03-22-2012, 02:52 PM

Oh great...more stuff I don't need...but now I need it!!! Thanks for nothing! Just kidding. Those turntables are truly cool!

Cogsinister

03-22-2012, 03:00 PM

I am trying to imagine how heavy those turntables would be as i picked one up at my local thrift store ( well i can dream ).

Nick_the_'Nole

03-22-2012, 03:01 PM

I'd love to get ahold of some of the old Soviet audio equipment, but not much of it made its way to the US (understandable, what with that whole Cold War thing and all), and getting anything shipped from Russia or Eastern Europe is quite expensive.

It's not just the stereo equipment that was cool, either... they had some supremely awesome tube radios. The 'Daugava' (http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/radiotehni_daugava_gramophone.html), 'Zvezda 54' (http://oldradio.onego.ru/SETS/zvez_l.htm) and 'Gamma' (http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/murom_rip_gammagamma.html) are my favorites.

Yeah, no self respecting Russian would be caught dead listening to ADS, MB Quart, or ANYTHING else German-made, I would imagine?

Steve

There's a story about Soviet generals planning an attack on NATO. "First we wipe out the Germans, then we turn and destroy the Americans." one general said.

"No, no" another replied "We destroy the Americans first and THEN the Germans. Business before pleasure."

Midfi deluxe

03-22-2012, 08:16 PM

Don't know about Breznev, but former (already) Russian president Medvedev has some very serious gear.
Here (couple years ago he met with Deep Purple)

Haha, okay: What is the deal with Russians and Deep Purple? Medvedev having Deep Purple play at the Kremlin proves this is not a baseless stereotype, it's true: All Russians are crazy about Deep Purple. Every single one. Why?

Tom Brennan

03-22-2012, 08:16 PM

Cool BUT, how did a person acquire this stuff during the Soviet era? did you have to starve or go with out vodka for a year? or did you go and buy it, or try and have Czar gift you some.

They did like guys on AK; grabbed it from dumpsters, garage sales and second hand stores. How do you say "scroe" in Russian?

Woody Allen wrote that the Russian Revolution happened when the peasants found out the Czar was really the Tsar.

gladiator335

03-22-2012, 08:37 PM

Haha, okay: What is the deal with Russians and Deep Purple? Medvedev having Deep Purple play at the Kremlin proves this is not a baseless stereotype, it's true: All Russians are crazy about Deep Purple. Every single one. Why?

What is wrong with Deep Purple????????????????????????????????

As for Soviet tube equipment...There were plenty...
For example:
http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rpl_s1/estonija_st.html

http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rpl_s/estonija55.html

http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rpl_s1/estonija4.html

http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rpl_s1/rigonda_s.html

just to name a few........

Midfi deluxe

03-22-2012, 08:49 PM

What is wrong with Deep Purple????????????????????????????????

Haha, hey I like the Purps & I don't mean to knock them. But I've known a bunch of Russians who are so heavy into that band, I wonder if Deep Purple connects with the Russian Soul in some mysterious way that I don't understand. Kind of like Pushkin.

Also: that is some interesting gear you've linked there.

gladiator335

03-22-2012, 08:56 PM

It was just that time...mid-70s. Beatles (obviously), Zeppelin, Purple were huge in the USSR!

And there is one more tube power amp:
http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez2/priboy50_75um204s.html

30W/8 ohm or 60W/8 Ohm, THD-1%, 20 hz-20KHz.
Not bad!

guiller

03-23-2012, 07:49 AM

So is that a solid metal sphere on the TT? What type of metal?

Is the arm attached to the sphere and pivoting with it, or is the sphere fixed with the arm pivot riding on it's surface? Either way I'd like to see how the bearings are set up.

I was asking myself the same questions: is it a sort a Amadeus Well tempered mechanism (meaning that there is fluid under the ball)?

guiller

03-23-2012, 07:55 AM

In the popular Lampizator site, there are note regarding a tube guru named Ewgienniy from Lviv:

http://www.lampizator.eu/AMPLIFIERS/AMP%20story.html

CNIPM

03-23-2012, 08:45 AM

About the Tone-Arm from KORVET Klingon Style Turntable, translation from russian prospectus:

"This is a draft of the tone arm designers Anatoly M. Likhnitsky (the designer of the AML + tube amplifier and the RX Correctors [http://www.aml.nm.ru/RX_corrector_eng.htm], and author of" Sound Quality: New approach to testing of the home audio equipment ") and A. Grebioskny back.

"Fundamental studies of the tonearm mass, the weight and the compliance of the cartridge resulting vibration system showed that through special training of the tonearm balance weight, a significant enlargement of the tracking ability (tracking ability) can be achieved when the tonearm balance weight as an anti- resonator is formed eye and in the tone arm and platinum resonance vibrational energy absorbed.
This is the inner part of the weight balance weight matched to the tonearm resonance and acts by anti-phase oscillation as an anti-resonator. Upon excitation of the tone arm in the resonance range, eg by record high shock or the like, are eliminated by this arrangement between Energiependelungen tone arm and anti-resonator. The anti-resonator tuned higher than outer part of the balance weight to prevent the transmission of partial resonances occurring boards on the tone arm. The interpretation of the tonearm balance weight than double anti-resonator causes a magnification of the interference ratio and thus the lumber-distance. "(Manual Dual 721, page 34, http://dual.pytalhost.eu/721/721-18.jpg )

Anatoly Likhnitsky attacks in his article "Dynamic viscous damping for tonearms" the example of the dual 721 for the principle of "dynamic resonance damping", which he believes it would be too inflexible, because it could be handled in his opinion, hardly practical: his view for of such there must be a more subdued tone arm with sophisticated measuring equipment, are individually decorated, the damping system should not be counter-productive, otherwise usually produce unwanted resonances, thus distortion.
This problem was solved with the tone arm with "Dynamic viscous damping". She seemed the vibration of the tone arm in any direction and without an individual institution, virtually self-calibrating, opposed.
Already connected in the original draft of his tonearm whose bullet base even rigid, in addition to the arm tube, even with an exterior gelegenem counterweight was floating in a viscous liquid (glycerin) is a ball of high-density material (for example, copper or brass), the by a coating with a low friction coefficient was surrounded (eg polyethylene) with a surface structure with flexible spines. It is this ball, which receives the resonance energy and in its viscous bath quasi executes. The "spikes" serve as a spacer, which should be avoided, that inner and outer sphere are in direct contact, which could also prevent the transmission of vibration of the ball inside to their case and is rigidly connected to arm tube.
In the range of 9 Hz to allow this system compared to conventional methods is improved by 10dB attenuation (Source: Good Sound Club). The manual is called the EP-038 values ​​of 8-10 dB without specifying a reference frequency. "

P.S. The Soviet-Russians even had electrostatic speakers called "BOT static",

http://i39.tinypic.com/mwqzxt.png

http://i44.tinypic.com/5dmhic.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/34esu86.jpg

Fidel Castro still has a set of them connected to the Korvet Monster Amp and a soviet
Super Turntable called CNOPM (SPORT) with 16 inch Tone Arm- shown in the German Klingon hifi thread.

This 35AC type here is well known as "People´s electrostatics = VOLKS-ELEKTROSTAT" in Russia.

Best regards
Willy

CNIPM

03-23-2012, 09:07 AM

Here
http://old-fidelity.de/thread-2383-page-22.html
you can see interesting details of the ULYANOWSK PLANT

http://i44.tinypic.com/16lgp5y.png
Ulyanowsk machine and electronics plant, still with old
STALINistic decoration, because the old direcetor "Admiral Kumir" still likes
his old "mentor" J. Stalin :) ;)

and the director general of that factory,
is an old 80 years (!) oldstalinistic admiral of the red Fleet, Called Admiral Kumir ( a good friend of the Putin family too) ,
so several audio stuff that was coming from this factory was called KUMIR, after the name of the big boss there: :)

Thats the "Director-Admiral" he still is an (pro forma) active Admiral of the red Fleet, several high ranking military leaders
are placed as directors (Kremlin Supervisors ; )) in the russian military and electronics industry.

http://i39.tinypic.com/rhiu4p.png

Well, even if he might be "a real bad guy", I like the Charisma of this old man, might also be an ideal actor for cold war movies as
" Red October" etc..." for replacing Sean Connery with a real russian Klingon :)

http://i42.tinypic.com/25g3syp.png
Todays Kumir Ulyanowsk Product portfolio, is still the same as 1980,
but sadly today they dont make any hifi products there.

Soviet-Russian (Klingon) hifi was and will ever be an adventure with several hidden secrets inside.

Best regards

Willy

gladiator335

03-23-2012, 09:19 AM

Well, I don't know about Stalin's portrait there, but:
1. KUMIR translated to English as IDOL and it's not a name.
2. That Russian admiral on a picture is actually is an actor (I forgot his name) and
has nothing to do with the plant or amplifiers...

Just to make things clear....

CNIPM

03-23-2012, 09:55 AM

Hallo,

thanks for the Info !

I got this info from another guy who used to live in Russia...:scratch2:

KUMIR is / was the "nickname" of the real admiral leading the factory,
maybe he was / is an IDOL for the russian people !??
The portrait might be something from a movie taking place there..dont know,
but they used to show it on their website some years ago.
Maybe for advertising purposes!?
Nevertheless I like it because it looks very charismatic and has some nice old
Soviet - charme !

Best regards

Willy

gladiator335

03-23-2012, 10:00 AM

Google is your friend indeed (makes up for my memory losses!).

OK, this actor's name is Georgi Yumatov and this picture is from the 1984 movie "Second Time In Crimea".
So as evil and "KGB" he looks - oops! just an actor....sorry....

Kahoona

03-23-2012, 10:04 AM

Impressive build, plus you wouldn't have to worry about them "honoring" their warranty! Perfect for listening to Klingon opera or background music during battle. :boxing:

Or Shakespeare in the original Klingon!

Cogsinister

03-23-2012, 10:08 AM

Well, I don't know about Stalin's portrait there, but:
1. KUMIR translated to English as IDOL and it's not a name.
2. That Russian admiral on a picture is actually is an actor (I forgot his name) and
has nothing to do with the plant or amplifiers...

Just to make things clear....

Thanks for that, i found that one weird post to say the least !!!

CNIPM

03-23-2012, 10:10 AM

Thanks again!
...a good actor, we neede more of those guys I like charismatic evil looking guys,
remember Governor Tarkin played by Peter Cushing (R.I.P.):)
http://i39.tinypic.com/23vynm8.jpg

:)

I will check out the russian movie!

best regards

Willy

gladiator335

03-23-2012, 10:13 AM

Not much of an info in English about this movie.
Here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088368/

CNIPM

03-23-2012, 10:20 AM

Thanks again, I will try to find more infos about this movie.

Dont know whether this Soviet-Submarine-Design
Retro(?)piano was ever made or exported, but I love it...

http://i41.tinypic.com/345o5u9.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/21b9jb4.jpg
"Red October" (might be made by "UKRAINA" Piano Plant Kiev)
maybe only a design probe-- i really dont know, but this damn thing is so cool looking!

If those Russians are really cool, they place this unbelievable "piano-machine" for a life performance
just in the middle of the bolshoi theatre Moscow for a short Piano Etude of Chopin:)

The comment about one soviet government official giving Fidel Castro a set of those cool Estats proves my point that you had to be someone and you had to know someone. this gear was not in every mans apartment. but man it sure is cool as hell ! thanks for posting all this stuff!

Tom Brennan

03-23-2012, 05:47 PM

The comment about one soviet government official giving Fidel Castro a set of those cool Estats proves my point that you had to be someone and you had to know someone. this gear was not in every mans apartment.

Well no, it doesn't prove your point; that a big shot give another big shot a gift doesn't mean ONLY big shots can have those things. I remember when Nixon gave Brezhnev a Lincoln and I knew boilermakers who drove Lincolns.

Electrostatic speakers aren't in every man's apartment in The United States either.

gladiator335

03-23-2012, 06:25 PM

Well no, it doesn't prove your point; that a big shot give another big shot a gift doesn't mean ONLY big shots can have those things. I remember when Nixon gave Brezhnev a Lincoln and I knew boilermakers who drove Lincolns.

Electrostatic speakers aren't in every man's apartment in The United States either.

:thmbsp: Good point.

frankxbe

03-23-2012, 06:51 PM

USSR turntable with silent Caterpillar drive:D

Tom Brennan

03-23-2012, 06:58 PM

USSR turntable with silent Caterpillar drive:D

Soft chuckle. ;)

Sandy G

03-23-2012, 11:33 PM

Twice-told tale that when Nixon gave Brezhnev that Lincoln, he grinned, grabbed the keys, hauled ass out into DC traffic...The Secret Service had a WHALE of a time keeping up w/him....Always liked that story...

Sandy G

03-23-2012, 11:41 PM

Always figgered the average Russian wasn't really a lot different than us; they prolly liked to screw off & have fun as much as we do. Putin's kinda dour, but I bet a day or 2 w/him & I'd have him whoopin' it up, too, big time...

I'd love to see one of those KOPBEM turntables in person. That's pretty far out.
I am in awe from this stuff.:drool: I don't think most Americans,Canadians,Japanese,Aussies what have you know this even exists.My guess is it was made for both higher ups in the party,and for gifts for important foreign visitors,like presidents or prime ministers,that's about it.If I were in Germany,Finland,Poland,or wherever,I might be tempted to put a piece or two on eBay,and see what it brings.

thorenstd124

03-26-2012, 01:40 AM

It was just that time...mid-70s. Beatles (obviously), Zeppelin, Purple were huge in the USSR!

And there is one more tube power amp:
http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez2/priboy50_75um204s.html

30W/8 ohm or 60W/8 Ohm, THD-1%, 20 hz-20KHz.
Not bad!
OK can you tell me about the teenage record hop at 1:39 in this video,give me a date,and what might have been played there?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIdPdBF85DU
Great song,great video,great band.The guy playing guitar at 2:35 is cool too.

I was not aware of Zeppelin,Stones,etc. pressed in the USSR until the Gorbachev years.

CNIPM

03-26-2012, 04:00 AM

These soviet ALNICO Speakers are high quality, made for little tube amps around 10W they should perform fine with a 300B
type of triode tube-amp. Nice woodwork.

Soviet kind of Heathkit
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Russian-Equalizer-kit-Soviet-USSR-Child-Electronics-Workshop-toy-NIB-/280850792479?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item416403001f
for a high quality dual Mono Equalizer. Not a childs toy.
http://i43.tinypic.com/xoidjm.jpg

Looks like the original cartridge from the Klingon turntable. (Housing might be made of old SS20 missile titanium as well)

Best regards

Willy

gladiator335

03-26-2012, 08:18 AM

OK can you tell me about the teenage record hop at 1:39 in this video,give me a date,and what might have been played there?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIdPdBF85DU
Great song,great video,great band.The guy playing guitar at 2:35 is cool too.

It's probably some of the so called "student disco clubs" which were very popular in the 70s-early 80s. I even used to work in one...
The group playing in this video is called DDT.
Here is some info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT_(band)

I was not aware of Zeppelin,Stones,etc. pressed in the USSR until the Gorbachev years.

I never said we played Soviet pressings-there were simply none! :D
Shortwave radio, Voice of America, BBC or Radio Sweden were our sources.
And occasionally some Western LPs made their way into our sweaty shaky hands and were copied countless times onto tapes...:music:

gladiator335

03-26-2012, 10:12 AM

This whole discussion brought so many memories...

That was my parents radio:
http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rpl_s1/rigonda102.html

That's where first sounds of rock music came from....

Then it was followed by this RTR:
http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/mg1/kometa201m.html

Later on while in college I bought this:

http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/mg1/kometa212.html

and this:

http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/melodija103.html
Big mistake! Turntable was so-so, but the speakers were just piece of crap....

So later on I built an amplifier and bought those:

http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/wega_ep120s.html

http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez2/35as012_212.html

And that was the time when neighbors started to complain!

mike d

03-26-2012, 12:00 PM

:DMy....God.....Bones.....What....have...I...done. ...?:thmbsp:I've never trusted the Klingons and I never will. . .

audiodon

03-26-2012, 12:25 PM

I work with a few Russian born engineers.
The first time I brought in a quad of 6n3cE "lamps", I recall one of them getting very excited and he told me stories about growing up in Moscow and tube gear his family had.
We do the same thing here with associations about our families.
This is a wonderful thread.
I bet there are some wonderful original design ideas here as well as knockoffs and copies.
Thanks CNIPM.

CNIPM

03-26-2012, 03:28 PM

Thank you very much for all of your most interesting memories you share with us!
Great stuff you show us!
Narod.ru is a real helpfull database, I also use it for me research.
Currently I have a nice russian setup here, tomorrow I will show some more pictures.
Excelent tuntable (belt driven heavy rock solid monster looks like a kind of soviet Thorens TD125) with real wood plinth and a kind of SME 3012 tonearm but totally made in old soviet union (1979 build date) , called Elektronika b1 01 and I have a very nice integrated amp called
Odissey U 010 connected to a set of 1987 Radiotehnika S90B 3 Way Speakers those were made in Riga during the Gorbatschow era.
All that stuff works nicely and sounds great....you can bet I love to listen to my soviet stuff, although I am German, I really like Russian technology and I have several friends in Ukraine and Russia....
nice people, friendly, gentle - I can only say good things about them.
I would like to own a 1978 Gaz Volga M24 in dark black with bright chrome trim or even a huge GAZ 13 Tschaika (Soviet Packard V8 KGB Car)

Kindest regards

Willy

Sandy G

03-26-2012, 03:37 PM

I remember the Brit TV show "Top Gear" got a Chaika to play with once...Jeremy & James had a BALL in it, even if James managed to screw up the push-button transmission...

CNIPM

03-26-2012, 03:41 PM

http://i39.tinypic.com/nmwy8k.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/2i7xzsn.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/11se8wm.jpg
non magnetic cast alloy platter

http://i39.tinypic.com/v595oy.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/2m9yco.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/246m4bk.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/35lgdwj.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/334i6g9.jpg

Thats my turntable, I like the nice finish of the surfaces.
The shock absorbing subchassis construction is just like Thorens TD125 and Linn LP12.
No plastics, no fakewood, solid alloy dustcover-hinges, even the
adjustable feet under the plinth base are made of solid brass.
I think a swiss Thorens TD125 hardly can be more solid.

Best regards

Willy

just dave

03-26-2012, 09:51 PM

Nice lookin table and the rest of the gear is pretty cool too.

JimmyNeutron

03-26-2012, 10:06 PM

This is incredible. I have never imagined any hi-fi gear coming out of old-world Russia, but upon thinking about how it would look I have to say that I imagined it to look exactly like this equipment. Can you believe the mentallity the Russians had or the opressive nature they were under to construct such equipment? It bogels the mind. I cannot believe that "free" engineers would have come up with this kind of stuff. Completely overbuilt and pure Sci-fi. Products mimic the times. In the 70's we had a great economy and it showed in the pride that Americans and Japanese had in designing and building the "silver era". The 80's saw a decline in pride as transistors came into use and everything was "digital ready", or "digitally designed". The 90's, with the stale world economy taking a nose dive, and corporation greed escalating gave us Black Plastic Crap (BPC). But this is just incredible stuff from an incredible time in history. Russian engineers *HAD* to build things that mimic'd their surroundings. What can you see in those designs? Truely historic pieces you are sharing with us.

Jimmy

Sandy G

03-26-2012, 10:13 PM

Somebody could start bringin' this stuff into America/the West as a "Boutique" brand & prolly do quite well...Just a cursory glance at it like this makes me think its pretty much "Mil-Spec" construction..Been around enuff Russian stuff to know its not ALL "Shit"...Some of its obviously QUITE good...

CNIPM

03-27-2012, 03:37 AM

Hallo,

@JimmyNeutron

thank you so much for your input, yeah those russian hifi pieces truly have a historical value and they work reliable as a MIG.

( Well, my russian items work great and sound so nice, you just cant believe it without listening to it ...)

Soviet engineers tried to prove the fact that soviet-russian people can build the worlds most uniquely engineered HQ Hi-Fi
I can only say its just incredibly rock solid and high quality...(The items I have...)
maybe there also were some trashy items too...

This here is my integrated solid state high quality Soviet amp:

http://i41.tinypic.com/14aabdy.png

http://i44.tinypic.com/16la137.png
Odyssey U 010

Very heavy item, huge shielded splitcore transformer, the finish is as good as my 1979 German made
http://i44.tinypic.com/2e17j1i.png
DUAL CV1600 de luxe amplifier. ( 1,600.- Deutsche Mark in 1979, it´s called the "Mercedes Amp" because it was also build in
West Germany near Stuttgart.
The quality of the russian made switches are mil spec, so they are even better than those "PREH" brand rotary switches
found in West-German consumer goods!

No pots at all in the russian amp only smoothly stepped rotary-attenuators with high quality low tolerance 2% single resistors
"imitating a potentiometer" but preventing the channel "parallelity problems" of conventional consumer-grade pots.

For comparison:
This cirquitboard here is the tone control section of a german luxury amplifier called DUAL CV1600.
The German amp also features stepped attenuators instead of cheap pots but those are consumer grade plastics...
they work quite well, but the soviet-russian pendants feel like a tank compared to that.
Further pictures of the DUAL Amp you can find here, also a very nice machine.
http://www.google.de/imgres?q=DUAL+CV1600&um=1&hl=de&sa=N&biw=1118&bih=670&tbm=isch&tbnid=RNRTBsPYUOiF4M:&imgrefurl=http://www.hifi-forum.de/bild/dual-cv-1600_94443.html&docid=s4DRN3XgotS0gM&imgurl=http://bilder.hifi-forum.de/medium/305942/dual-cv-1600_94443.jpg&w=640&h=480&ei=04JxT-nvLbH64QTtvvnADw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=464&vpy=364&dur=2509&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=142&ty=81&sig=109005271818087139329&page=1&tbnh=158&tbnw=197&start=0&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0

http://i44.tinypic.com/epeuk7.jpg
Here I opened up the attenuators section dust cover shields just to show the quality of the tone filter adjustment section.
All those pieces shown here are Mil-Spec stuff, also the foil capacitors (something similar to US-Spraque "orange drop" caps
but made in USSR) No cap breakdown yet and I use the amp daily!

http://i40.tinypic.com/2gvn4mu.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/33er1ch.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/1y0bpe.jpg
These pictures are from NAROD.RU they show all the nice handmade quality details of this amps cirquitry.

No hum, very nice DUAL MONO Phonostage you can find under the tin-shield box on the left side of this photo.

http://i41.tinypic.com/2vtzj49.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/120nv3k.jpg
Here you can see the discrete built (!) voltage rectifier & regulator section, russians allways try to build their gear without hordes of
integrated cirquitry because its simpler to maintain if something might go wrong in the taiga....no special spares needed only discrete stuff you can find in any russian military depot / warehouse...) Russians also love to use car or truck alternator high output diodes
as discrete rectifier (2 or 4 soviet truck alternator Diodes (Germanium or silicium type) replace an integrated bridge rectifier.
This handmade solution is pretty high end, just watch the price for a set of rugged AC Delco diodes for car alternators and compare to a normal grade Chinese bridge rectifier "IC"....

Nice example of Russian unique engineering solutions, this excellent 2008 Kamov 52 fighter-helicopter still uses the old German
WW2 Flettner / Focke-Achgelis Patents of Counter Rotating Main Rotors,
that works quite well and gives an automatic torque compensation...very stable and easy to fly machine compared to the conventional Western type of "Cross Axial" helicopters (The Apache-64D has special stability automatic correction-systems
assisting the pilotes during the f(l)ight...Russians just dont need / want that.) .
But russian Kamov type is much more expensive to manufacture, because ingenious mechanics still are more expensive
than computer optimized and driven "miracle machines..."
Same thing with russian HiFi, unconventional, expensivly made, ingenious but never ultra High Tech using Micro Devices as the Japanese...

Sorry for the short off topic.

Best regards

Willy

Cogsinister

03-27-2012, 07:22 AM

I just can't get enough of theses pictures, but it is tempered by the sadness of knowing that none of it will ever turn up in my backwater :(

CNIPM

03-27-2012, 07:44 AM

Never say never, I found my stuff (well, the Soviet-Amp) on ebay Germany.
www.ebay.de

Some nice (Est-)German RFT and Polish Unitra / Radmor / Diora stuff also turns up there from time to time...

Best regards

Willy

CNIPM

03-27-2012, 09:00 AM

Here you can see the Odyssey U 010 amplifier working:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlIBl7RAXuk&feature=player_embedded#

Also very nice Soviet Hifi Rack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M88waCYHh-A&feature=related

gladiator335

03-27-2012, 09:07 AM

I just HAVE to make some comments here.
First of all - please keep in mind that Soviet economy was not "supply and demand" type, but rather (and sadly) planned from the top economy.
So when factory X was given an order to build let's say 1,000 amplifiers a year nobody there cared about marketing or sales. They simply built required quantity and shipped
them to the retail outfits.
As a result design was not a first (or second, or third) priority.
For some designers Pioneer, B&O or Sony or whatever catalogs provided all the inspiration needed.
Here is the result:

http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/elektronika_b104.jpg

For another inspiration came from watching Soviet tanks or ugly neighbors.

http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/rossija321st.jpg

Now about components... All the components were made with Mil-spec in mind. Only after quality inspection those which didn't meet the specs were used in anything made for consumer's "market".
However some of the gear was made as a required percentage of consumer products by military suppliers (they all had to make something for regular people. Tanks or bombers for the state and let's say bread containers or paper clips for everyone else). So they used mil-spec components which they had plenty of to begin with...Since most of the factories were working for the military to begin with a lot of stereos were made with sturdy high quality diodes, resistors, transistors and such....
It was not about choosing which components to use. It was about using what was readily available at the factory's warehouse.

Believe me-none of that stereos were made specifically for the party leaders... Big party bosses were using Sansui or Marantz, not Soviet Radiotechnika or Electronica equipment. Everything went to retail and was more or less affordable and available. But because of the planned economy nobody really cared to meet the demand and planned quantities were not even close to the numbers needed.

That's more or less the story behind Soviet consumer electronics.
If some Russian stereo reminds you of a nuclear sub it is not because it was designed that way. It was simply because designer behind that piece didn't know any better....

Just my 0.02c :D

CNIPM

03-27-2012, 09:17 AM

Thanks again, great insider know how!

I love the CCCP-Nuke design as long my amp does not become radioactive or explodes in my
rack :)

By the way the little ROSSIJA recordplayer you showed us was close in design to the West German "Perpetuum Ebner" PE33 rim drive high quality 60s deck...

http://i43.tinypic.com/33xtw92.jpg

Compare yourself:

http://i42.tinypic.com/nb59wk.jpg
(The PE 33 studio was the top quality compactly sized german broadcast rim drive deck for radio transmitter busses called UEBERTRAGUNGSWAGEN in German. (Broadcast bus)

So the russian counterpart was not so badly styled for a 1960 "peoples product" --
and I realy like russian tractors... :)
You could even mount a magnetic stereo pickup as shure M75 to replace the ceramic stock type,
you will just have to add a little RIAA cirquit between tone arm outcoming cables and amp inlet section...

Here this Rossija looks pretty beefy for an affordable entry level phono-set of the 60s.

http://i43.tinypic.com/974sx1.jpg

The older version looks even nicer due to the older Bulleye KT Transistors.

http://i44.tinypic.com/r0wjn4.jpg

Transformer is also nicely large for 2x20W set...should work fine on a good speaker system.

http://i40.tinypic.com/swpqhu.jpg
No definetly not an "ugly neighbour", I like the woodplinth quality too much to call it ugly, the machine
is typical 60s design... quite right for a weekend house in the mountains or something like that...:)

http://i43.tinypic.com/4fvm7l.jpg
You wont find these military grade attenuators (dust shielded) in any Japanese or chinese BPC product :)

Best regards

Willy

guiller

03-27-2012, 09:19 AM

I just HAVE to make some comments here.
First of all - please keep in mind that Soviet economy was not "supply and demand" type, but rather (and sadly) planned from the top economy.
So when factory X was given an order to build let's say 1,000 amplifiers a year nobody there cared about marketing or sales. They simply built required quantity and shipped
them to the retail outfits.
As a result design was not a first (or second, or third) priority.
For some designers Pioneer, B&O or Sony or whatever catalogs provided all the inspiration needed.
Here is the result:

http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/elektronika_b104.jpg

For another inspiration came from watching Soviet tanks or ugly neighbors.

http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/rossija321st.jpg

Now about components... All the components were made with Mil-spec in mind. Only after quality inspection those which didn't meet the specs were used in anything made for consumer's "market".
However some of the gear was made as a required percentage of consumer products by military suppliers (they all had to make something for regular people. Tanks or bombers for the state and let's say bread containers or paper clips for everyone else). So they used mil-spec components which they had plenty of to begin with...Since most of the factories were working for the military to begin with a lot of stereos were made with sturdy high quality diodes, resistors, transistors and such....
It was not about choosing which components to use. It was about using what was readily available at the factory's warehouse.

Believe me-none of that stereos were made specifically for the party leaders... Big party bosses were using Sansui or Marantz, not Soviet Radiotechnika or Electronica equipment. Everything went to retail and was more or less affordable and available. But because of the planned economy nobody really cared to meet the demand and planned quantities were not even close to the numbers needed.

That's more or less the story behind Soviet consumer electronics.
If some Russian stereo reminds you of a nuclear sub it is not because it was designed that way. It was simply because designer behind that piece didn't know any better....

Just my 0.02c :D

Very interesting comments. Thanks for sharing your views.

frperdurabo

03-27-2012, 10:04 AM

You know, i was wondering the same thing ?

If they were for home sale, who on earth could afford them ?

And if they were for export well they missed a huge opportunity.

The same way Soviets got anything else - they knew someone who knew someone. Since there wasn't a lot of stuff to buy on the open market, most Russians had quite a bit of money saved up, for those times when a good deal presented itself.

gladiator335

03-27-2012, 10:16 AM

The same way Soviets got anything else - they knew someone who knew someone. Since there wasn't a lot of stuff to buy on the open market, most Russians had quite a bit of money saved up, for those times when a good deal presented itself.

It's only partially true.
Let's say this amp for example:

http://www.rw6ase-dok1.narod.ru/f/amfiton_u002s00.jpg

In 1983 MSRP was 250 rubles. It was about month and a half salary for an entry-level engineer. Just keep in mind-medicine and education were free and rent (nobody at that time actually can legally own an apartment) was dirt cheap either...
To compare: in the same 1983 median income in US was $20,885 a year or roughly $1,740 a month. Minus taxes, mortgage, so on and so forth...
And for how much more or less decent integrated amplifier was selling for?
Say $300-400?

So it wasn't really a question of affordability.
Because of the limited number produced it was hard to buy it in the store.
But if you knew a guy who knew a guy....:D

frperdurabo

03-27-2012, 11:59 AM

Gladiator335 - thanks for adding additional info.

I've got to say - this is one the most interesting AudioKarma threads ever.

I've never owned any Soviet stereo equipment, but for years I used a Kiev 88 medium format camera; they were sold in the US by Lens Exchange in Connecticut. I had all the lenses and several backs. Lenses were nice, but it broke down one time too many, alas. Replaced it with a Pentax 67.

gladiator335

03-27-2012, 12:19 PM

It's getting harder to remember what happened 30-40 years ago...
I was on Skype with my friends back from my "disco-club job" era...
To be honest I wouldn't recognize some of them....Nobody gets younger (except our wives)

JimmyNeutron

03-27-2012, 12:59 PM

Lol! Every time I read one of CNIPM's posts in my mind I'm reading it with a Russian accent - like Rocky's Draco....."I must keel you". Haha. C'mon. I know l'm not the only one.

I'll admit this has got to take AK's top prize for being the most interesting thread. Kudos to our neighbors over seas. :thmbsp:

Jimmy

gladiator335

03-27-2012, 01:24 PM

Back in the days when I wasn't married (a looooong time ago) and had a lot of spare time I used to build amplifiers.
My favorite was based on widely popular schematics by V. Shushurin.
Something like that (see thumbnail).
I built probably 3 or 4 of them-amazing piece of equipment. Very easy to build and tune.
My latest version clipped at somewhere about 150 watts at 8 ohms!

What is interesting that Mr. Shushurin later moved to US and established Lammindustries. Yes, he changed his name to Lamm!

http://www.lammindustries.com
Go figure....

wualta

03-27-2012, 05:15 PM

Jeez, I had a pair of TDS headphones. They were actually really good!
We need to tempt you over to Head-Fi. You might be interested in the planar-magnetic headphones by Amfiton and Echo. I have both versions of the Echo TDS-16 myself. Except for the horrible earpads, which might have been appropriate for military applications, it's a great headphone.

Does anyone here recall seeing an East German headphone called an HOK-80?

tubeboob

03-27-2012, 05:19 PM

Now that's what I call an interesting post.

Where do I get my hands on that TT???

Cheers on a great post . . .

And cheers generally . . .

ejman

03-27-2012, 08:37 PM

Absolutely fascinating thread thank you CNIPM !

Tinman

03-27-2012, 10:26 PM

I love these threads! Fascinating stuff. :thmbsp:

Satcom123

03-27-2012, 11:55 PM

Very interesting and informative narative thus far on the the audio equipment made and developed in Russia. A name they made for themselves by their leaders and not their peoples. No where and I mean now where can this be found but here on Audiokarma.org.

I have lived through the cold war and as always when "it" presents itself, people shine through. Music I believe is the key which brings us together.

These are my thoughts as I read each and every comment and video I wondered off to. Now thanks to this, I want to own some of that history. So we are drawn together in a bond of music.

CNIPM

03-28-2012, 04:19 AM

Hallo, you are very welcome,
I love to write about the fascinating old soviet HIFI gear --- so well engineered ;)

http://i43.tinypic.com/28hg6yv.jpg
Very linear frequency response, an Acoustic Research AR3a Speaker wont do it better.
I can tell you this type of speaker is as good (if not even better)
than any German made T&A, Grundig, DUAL, SABA, Klein and Hummel or Telefunken top of the line speaker
in its size and power range. You might call the S90B a "vintage high end class" but still conventional speaker.

Nothing cheaply made on the Radiotehnika S90 series. (Okay no styling gimmicks as well, but I don´t need glitzy styling if
the speaker performs excellent, and my S90b does.)

Heavy as hell these S90, you will se why, dont think its plastic or fakewood trash ;)
the frontal "klingon looking" grills only cover solid woodbodies and
ultra heavy bass + mid cone speakers and a very well made polyproylenium dome tweeter.
All those speaker chassis have rock solid cast alloy bodies and giant magnets.

http://i43.tinypic.com/6ozgur.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/tak511.jpg
with 150 Rubles they cost around 1.25 month salary of a soviet engineer (one speaker)

http://i40.tinypic.com/dg00vs.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/2a62qoi.jpg
very heavy 25 Ohms (!) tweeter with cast frame, I prefer this kind of polypropylenium tweeter over silk and titanium ultra high tech tweeters, normal grade silk tweeters tend to tighten the tonal structure obove 15.000 HZ and titanium tweeters may show a sharp/harsh top end, so the polyprop is just in the middle of this...not too less and not too much high frequency dominance.
I noticed the same tendence with comparisons in other speakers from Visaton/Germany, ELAC and Canton.

http://i44.tinypic.com/n5n9kk.jpg
very solid cone midrange drivers, also with cast alloy body, good response of sax, trumpets and voices...you will have to look
to very expensive high end stuff to get a better mid tone. I already did some comparisons, even against todays computer
optimized trick stuff (B&W etc...) the old soviets perform nicely.

http://i43.tinypic.com/192r9.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/117hg01.jpg
These bass drivers are monsters and kick ass as hell,
you cant imagine how heavy they are...and good as well,
very responsive, clean and deeeeep bass.

http://i43.tinypic.com/35jz40w.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/ornf3a.jpg
Crossover of an Acoustic Research AR3a speaker (This classic US made 3 way speaker is good I know...)

http://i44.tinypic.com/jq5owj.jpg
Newer Type with capacitors that have more uF in a single housing, so less caps needed here for same electrical characteristics
these newer crossovers come with silver plated wire wound MIL SPEC attenuators for tweeter and midrange.

http://i39.tinypic.com/35mleue.jpg
Thats a photo of the internal cirquitry installed in the speaker wood housings

http://i41.tinypic.com/347egky.jpg
Radiotehnika Plant in the 1987 soviet press, oh by the way I like their old "Soviet" walldecoration :)

http://i43.tinypic.com/3537amq.jpg
Same place 2008 in Riga ---Soviet wall deco is gone...but signpost with RRR logo is still there---
http://i41.tinypic.com/ne84t5.png
They should restore that to "old CCCP glory" ;) and sell retro-soviet Hifi to the world. :) I would order!

http://i43.tinypic.com/11hs3gw.jpg
oh this phto is from early 2011 now they remove their whole history of former production of glorius eastern Hi Fi...thats sad.

http://i42.tinypic.com/16c6yao.jpg
Newest photo summer 2011, they install a shopping centre or prophane supermarket right there, even more sad.

http://i43.tinypic.com/2mxog5.png
Maybe they leave the radiotehnika tower untouched and place there a museum?!?

http://i41.tinypic.com/sosvi0.jpg
Schematic of the S90B Speakers, you can see the complex
overload protection and warning cirquit.
Its essential on these valuable speakers to replace the protection cirquit electrolytics with new 65Volt axial types,
the old soviet 40V stock-electrolytics often are dried out there and the protection system does not work at all
or works to early and cuts off the frequency response....
so better replace the electrolytics with new panasonic quality caps and thats all.
Never again problems with these fine soviet speakers.
The frequency crossover itself does not have a single electrolytic (!)
(only oil filled high voltage foil caps in hermetically sealed tin housings) nothing can go wrong here.

http://i41.tinypic.com/i2ozk8.jpg
In old Soviet russia you could buy this nice combo

CNIPM

03-28-2012, 06:58 AM

http://i44.tinypic.com/18khz5.png

http://i44.tinypic.com/2567j2u.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/16a4gsm.jpg
Jesus these characteristics are excellent for a discretely handbuilt amp concept of the late 70s / early 80s.

Sadly I cant find close up internal photos of these ingenious class A pre/Power "7011" machines, but they might look as rocksolid as their predecessors RRR ym001 and pre yn001.

http://i44.tinypic.com/34rab7s.jpg
Pre amp yn 001 (Very high quality, watch the nice attenuators, yummy!)
you can bet that the pre amp phonostage of this yn001 is a good performer :)

http://i39.tinypic.com/2uhqv6u.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/33nbvw0.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/6eqerb.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/w7eayp.jpg
ym001 isnt bad either, I like the dual mono layout of this power amp, again with nice ISKRA brand
splitcore trannies made in Krasnoyarsk CCCP.

Best regards

Willy

guiller

03-28-2012, 08:16 AM

Thanks a lot for keeping this thread alive with lots of very interesting data and pictures of that incredible gear!

CNIPM

03-28-2012, 09:26 AM

Here another high quality amp using even MOS FET Technology.
This one here is also an ODISSEY branded but KUMIR MADE integrated from ULJANOWSK CCCP.

http://i41.tinypic.com/2kreyd.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/1zcjub7.jpg
Thats a very powerfull amp 2x100 Watt RMS @8 Ohms (on Paper)
In reality it cranks out 2x150 Watt @ 8Ohms RMS
http://i42.tinypic.com/dh7nt4.jpg
No wonder, that huge round monster of a transformer is goot for 2x225 Watt. (450 Watt turn on impulse power)
http://i43.tinypic.com/34ouc86.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/wrjjgh.jpg
Soviet Power MOS FET technology from Ulyanwosk plant.
This amp is one of the last series of HQ Amps made in the old USSR, 1988 started the production...
http://i39.tinypic.com/35bfkuw.jpg
It shares the dust protected blue (very Alps like) Volume Potentiometers with the smaller Kumir amps.
These Pots are the soviet version of the blue Alps, but I dont know how good the russian Version is
compared to the Japanese... (Aging and corrosion ?) If its a military / laboratory OEM knock off it will be good,
if its only made for "soviet consumers" it might be weak...most russian amps use stepped attenuators instead of pots.
So there are no aging problems, only cleaning maybe some BALLISTOL spray inside and they work 4ever.

Best regards

Willy

Cogsinister

03-28-2012, 09:35 AM

I just want to get in there and clean the heck out of that baby.....that dust everywhere is getting to me !!

gladiator335

03-28-2012, 09:37 AM

Here is a larger picture:

http://myaudio.moy.su/_si/0/99615780.jpg

Not the best designers effort....

CNIPM

03-28-2012, 09:38 AM

Me too...
sadly its still collecting dust somewhere in Russia...or it maybe sleeps in a closet ;)

@
Thanks 4 the larger frontal photo :)
well it looks like other 80s gear...we even in Germany had amps made by Telefunken and Nordmende looking like that frontal design....
the interesting soviet technology is the king here (much more solid than average western amps of that era)
and i like the idea that its one rare item of the final soviet hifi era.

So I would love to have one, especially because I own the predecessor Odissey y 010.

Best regards

Willy

gladiator335

03-28-2012, 09:45 AM

Couple videos of Soviet RTRs in action.
Not bad at all!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9qYxk8rSIg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0eJB67xOgY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DOJTkbCd9o&feature=related

gladiator335

03-28-2012, 09:57 AM

Check out those two video clips!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37pLkQQjQwQ&feature=related

First turntable is Korvet 038 which basically started this thread.
http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/korwet038st03.jpg

Really interesting photos of Soviet era equipment. I was always fascinated by the look and design of Soviet era equipment when it comes to aircraft and space craft. It seems like their approach to Hi-Fi is the KISS method. Keep It Simple Stupid. I see hardly any IC's, just discrete components.

CNIPM

03-29-2012, 04:32 PM

Yeah the russians do it quite right, for very good sound you only need a properly designed discrete cirquit,
and a stable source of electrical Power....good transformer etc...
ICs are a typical Japanse solution, but you dont need hordes of OP Amp Ics for analogue Audio equipment...
you can do the same with transistors, resistors and diodes.
Takes more time to manufacture and is more expensive, but cost was no matter for russian audio engineers. :)

http://i40.tinypic.com/2mm9uvn.jpg
Simple but effective and deadquiet without any hum....
Soviet bM 0200 (2x100 Watt) Class A/B solid state professional rack stage stereo amp.
You can bridge it to 200 Watt Mono.

http://i41.tinypic.com/fw6rp.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/ay4osj.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/auzfv9.jpg
Sounds great that heavy thing, a friend of mine found it in Prague, now has it
in his music studio in Frankfurt.

http://i42.tinypic.com/34ye1lf.jpg
I like russian type plates they tell a lot.
This one was made 1992 in the electronical music instruments works Moscow.
Serial Number 286 is quite low. There werent many made of them.
Thats the only professional stage or studio power amp made in USSR I have ever seen,
but i´m sure there were many other types around back in the glory days of CCCP :)

Kindest regards

Willy

Dmitry

01-28-2013, 03:51 PM

Jeez, I had a pair of TDS headphones. They were actually really good!

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x38/achoh/tds1.jpg

I don't remember the sound, but I remember that they were not very comfortable. It's been about 25 years, but did most Soviet "hifi" components have balanced-type connectors? I used to run an Arktur tt, as well as a couple of other components pictured above. The quality of the consumer components wasn't very high, at least not the ones we could afford.

kotofei

01-28-2013, 05:17 PM

They were not balanced, there were 6-pin DIN.

I don't remember the sound, but I remember that they were not very comfortable. It's been about 25 years, but did most Soviet "hifi" components have balanced-type connectors? I used to run an Arktur tt, as well as a couple of other components pictured above. The quality of the consumer components wasn't very high, at least not the ones we could afford.

gladiator335

02-07-2013, 01:48 PM

Quite an old thread but....

Here is another memory from much younger age: first Soviet VCR "Electronika VM12".
I had one of those!!!!

Reminds you of something?

http://video1975.narod.ru/foto/vm12/DSCN1633.JPG

burgerbob

02-07-2013, 02:26 PM

This is the coolest thread on Audiokarma.

Sandy G

02-07-2013, 06:25 PM

Quite an old thread but....

Here is another memory from much younger age: first Soviet VCR "Electronika VM12".
I had one of those!!!!

Reminds you of something?

http://video1975.narod.ru/foto/vm12/DSCN1633.JPG

Looks an awful lot like a VHS machine...Still think the Rooskies could have a pretty respectable market if they ever tried selling this stuff in the Decadent West...Everything I've seen is VERY appealing to me from both astyling standpoint & a construction one as well.. There is at least ONE vintage Russian radio that about any antique radio nut worth his salt would LOVE to have...Think it was made in 1955, & called the "Volga"...Believe it was patterned after an earlier French design...Talk about "Klingon" styling...Its like the '55 Caddy was re-designed in Moscow, & they were good 'n' loaded on vodka to boot...It is a rather humble 5 tube AM/SW set....But to LOOK at it, you'd think it picked up the Klingon Home World...

gladiator335

02-07-2013, 06:31 PM

Quote: "There is at least ONE vintage Russian radio that about any antique radio nut worth his salt would LOVE to have...Think it was made in 1955, & called the "Volga"...Believe it was patterned after an earlier French design..."

No, but methinks I like THAT 'Un, too...The one I'm talking about is, IIRC, a big chrome & red affair that has a tapered design that is bigger on the top than at the base..Been awhile since I've seen one...A year or 2 back,one was on Epay, & I think it went for SILLY big money, which is why I'll never have one..

Watthour

02-07-2013, 10:44 PM

Wow. White Plastic Crap... They just HAD to be different.

Sam Cogley

02-08-2013, 12:16 AM

I'm pretty sure this comment has already been made somewhere in here, but..."In Soviet Russia, Hi-Fi listens to YOU!"

ryuuoh

02-08-2013, 12:49 AM

This is a great historical thread. I will comment on one thing though: How did the Russians manage to measure 4 decimal distortion figures? Lets see some Russian test equipment!

Hello,
I was surprised to find a thread like this at Audiokarma. As I see the real interest in USSR HiFi, I can contribute to this and provide some additional information.
Please find below some pics of highly praised among the audiofils in Russia the USSR HiFi integrated amplifier BRIG-001. This unit was among the firs ever in USSR to comply with HiFi standards. The pre-production started in 1975, mass production started in 1976, the price is silk-screened on the back and reads 625 rub. (meaning 3 months average salary of an engineer). The unit weghts 16 kg and easily feeds 2 x 50 W at 4 Ohms with 0.1 THD. The schematic is developed by very talented Russian engineer Anatoly Likhnitsky, who died 18th of May this year (RIP). The initial design was fully discreet and based on silicon transistors with quasi complementary output stage on 2 NPN KT808A 100 V 10 A transistors working in AB mode with 50 mA bias current. All controls, besides balance, are made discreet with silver contacts and selected resistors. There is not a single connector in a unit, all pcbs are soldered manually and signed by an operator. After 37 years of service the unit functions like new, the only thing is to replace 16 electrolytics and re-adjust biasing.

Hello,
I was surprised to find a thread like this at Audiokarma. As I see the real interest in USSR HiFi, I can contribute to this and provide some additional information.
Please find below some pics of highly praised among the audiofils in Russia the USSR HiFi integrated amplifier BRIG-001. This unit was among the firs ever in USSR to comply with HiFi standards. The pre-production started in 1975, mass production started in 1976, the price is silk-screened on the back and reads 625 rub. (meaning 3 months average salary of an engineer). The unit weghts 16 kg and easily feeds 2 x 50 W at 4 Ohms with 0.1 THD. The schematic is developed by very talented Russian engineer Anatoly Likhnitsky, who died 18th of May this year (RIP). The initial design was fully discreet and based on silicon transistors with quasi complementary output stage on 2 NPN KT808A 100 V 10 A transistors working in AB mode with 50 mA bias current. All controls, besides balance, are made discreet with silver contacts and selected resistors. There is not a single connector in a unit, all pcbs are soldered manually and signed by an operator. After 37 years of service the unit functions like new, the only thing is to replace 16 electrolytics and re-adjust biasing.

Welcome to AK, Aleksei and thank you for sharing the data and pictures of this beauty!

Aleksei

05-30-2013, 03:41 PM

Welcome to AK!
Are you from Russia?

Hello,
Yes, I am from St.Petersburg, Russia and I'm very glad to find some people here sharing our mutual interests toward vintage HiFi equipment. Thank you for the warm welcome!
Following my story on one of the most interesting USSR integrated amplifier Brig-001, here is some information on schematic - see attachment in pdf. There is a lot of legends sarrounding this unit. Among other, there is a discussion at Russian HiFi forums regarding the origin of the schematic. According to the developer, the schematic of power amplifier was fully original and was developed by the author in the beginning of 70-th in St.Petersburg and initially tested at authors own home-made amplifier, which was the first prototype of Brig. But there is some information from the author former co-workers that the schematic was taken from some unindentified Yamaha amplifier. This information is based on the rumor that someone saw half-erased Yamaha logo on the "secret drawing" with schematic of Brig-001, while it was launched on pre-production at St.Petersburg's Morphyspribor, the manufacturing facility producing mil grade submarine equipment. There is no clear answer so far. Maybe someone from this forum could identify Yamaha amplifier which could have been the "secret prototype" of this beauty. Anyway it sounds sweeet. The sound is tube-like - may be for someone treble is not crispy enough, but this is a kind of a sound that is not fatiguing and one could listen to it forever especially with classical repertoire.

guiller

05-30-2013, 03:59 PM

The sound is tube-like - may be for someone treble is not crispy enough, but this is a kind of a sound that is not fatiguing and one could listen to it forever especially with classical repertoire.

I like a lot that type of sound!

gladiator335

05-30-2013, 04:51 PM

St. Petersburg is a beautiful city! Been there couple times (a looooong time ago).
Once again: welcome to AK!

St. Petersburg is a beautiful city! Been there couple times (a looooong time ago).
Once again: welcome to AK!

Yes, St.Petersburg is a beautiful city especially now at white nights season. Besides, St.Petersburg is a capital of USSR HiFi. Your images are well known to me, especially the second one - this is Korvet preamplifier UP-028, which was produced by Ladoga factory in the mid of 80th. I own a couple of this beautiful HiFi gear and recently repaired one of this units (there was a problem in regulated power supply which provides 2 stabilized voltages +34/-34 and +15/-15 V) - see pictures. The ingenious phono stage is fully discrete and powered by +-34 V, the flat amp stage and tone controls are based on hi-speed ICs. The source selectors are all deported to minimize signal path. The headphone amplifier is powered by +-20 V and has discrete driver stage (see photo). ALL CONTROLS ARE DISCRETE USING SELECTED FIXED RESISTORS AND OSMIUM PLATED CONTACTS. The weight of the unit is 11 kg. It sounds accordingly, espesially paired with "native" power amplifier, Korvet 100UM-048, weighting 22 kg and easily feeding 2x100 W into 8 Ohm and up to 300 W in bridge mode, which is switched by a lever at the back of the unit. This is what we call a Russian HiFi!

V. Eryomin

06-04-2013, 05:00 AM

Hi all!
I represent to your attention some interesting models of equipment, produced in the USSR.
That had no illusions that the common model, I had to sign pictures of their exhibits...
http://s018.radikal.ru/i503/1209/c9/2023d3fadb13.jpg (http://www.radikal.ru)
http://s019.radikal.ru/i605/1209/9b/30196b3db3f7.jpg (http://www.radikal.ru)
http://s017.radikal.ru/i400/1209/85/463751c12d67.jpg (http://www.radikal.ru)
http://s017.radikal.ru/i412/1209/81/3acc942ab2f5.jpg (http://www.radikal.ru)
http://s019.radikal.ru/i610/1212/fe/e36fdc76abe5.jpg (http://www.radikal.ru)
http://i065.radikal.ru/1209/51/d213bd9d206f.jpg (http://www.radikal.ru)
http://s019.radikal.ru/i602/1209/6c/72211aee659c.jpg (http://www.radikal.ru)
http://s51.radikal.ru/i132/1209/d5/e85d763e10ec.jpg (http://www.radikal.ru)
http://i017.radikal.ru/1209/37/4b8ba07cb395.jpg (http://www.radikal.ru)
http://s09.radikal.ru/i182/1212/60/1a0c7371a06a.jpg (http://www.radikal.ru)
http://s019.radikal.ru/i601/1212/d9/67fe77ef17ec.jpg (http://www.radikal.ru)

In my photos I want to give you a General idea of what was produced in the USSR.
I intentionally do not provide the characteristics of the equipment. Who are interested, you will find all the necessary information on the Internet.

Cogsinister

06-04-2013, 07:44 AM

The pics without the huge Yellow writing in the middle of them were great.

71CNY

06-04-2013, 07:53 AM

I've never trusted the Klingons and I never will. . .

Same here :no:

guiller

06-04-2013, 08:10 AM

In my photos I want to give you a General idea of what was produced in the USSR.
I intentionally do not provide the characteristics of the equipment. Who are interested, you will find all the necessary information on the Internet.

Very interesting and very nice pictures. Thanks for the sharing!

V. Eryomin

06-04-2013, 08:29 AM

The pics without the huge Yellow writing in the middle of them were great.

I agree - this is not nice. On the other hand there is intrigue: why did he do it?

V. Eryomin

06-04-2013, 10:10 AM

Салют-001
The device was created by a joint work of specialists
comrade Riga KB "Orbita" and the public enterprise "Stern-radio" Berlin, Germany
http://s017.radikal.ru/i444/1306/a6/478de6b254fd.jpg (http://www.radikal.ru)

It is interesting to see a variety of linear tracking TTs. How about their cartridges?

V. Eryomin

06-04-2013, 10:59 AM

Interesting fact
The plant manufactures the equipment for weapons and at the same time
http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez2/elektronika100as063.html
http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez2/elektronika50as061m.html
http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/elektronika_ep060s.html
http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/elektronika_ep090s.html
http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/elektronika_b1_04s.html

V. Eryomin

06-04-2013, 11:16 AM

It is interesting to see a variety of linear tracking TTs. How about their cartridges?
If you mean the cartridges Soviet turntables, there is no problem. All cartridges Soviet turntables have a European counterparts.

guiller

06-04-2013, 02:04 PM

If you mean the cartridges Soviet turntables, there is no problem. All cartridges Soviet turntables have a European counterparts.

Could you please tell us which brands were more frequently used?

guiller

06-04-2013, 02:05 PM

Interesting fact
The plant manufactures the equipment for weapons and at the same time
http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez2/elektronika100as063.html
http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez2/elektronika50as061m.html
http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/elektronika_ep060s.html
http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/elektronika_ep090s.html

Yes, somewhere before in this thread this was mentioned, as well as the narrow tolerances in most components due to there military grade quality.

How about some tube audio gear? My guess is that some of the best gear could be found in this category.

Yes, somewhere before in this thread this was mentioned, as well as the narrow tolerances in most components due to there military grade quality.

How about some tube audio gear? My guess is that some of the best gear could be found in this category.
Audio system issued at military enterprises have high reliability and excellent consumer qualities.

Thanks. How about the cartridges used in those turntables? Where these Western brands or Soviet made?

guiller

06-05-2013, 08:32 AM

Audio system issued at military enterprises have high reliability and excellent consumer qualities.

Could you please post some pictures of tube audio gear?

V. Eryomin

06-05-2013, 08:36 AM

Could you please post some pictures of tube audio gear?

Sorry I don't quite understand what is "tube audio gear"?

F1NN

06-05-2013, 08:46 AM

http://forumimage.ru/show/6382612

V. Eryomin

06-05-2013, 08:53 AM

Thanks. How about the cartridges used in those turntables? Where these Western brands or Soviet made?
Here is the list of cartridges and their analogues.
Cartridge - ГЗМ-003 and ГЗМ-043 have analogues Shure N75 and Shure N95
Cartridge - ГЗМ-055 and ГЗМ-155 has similar Ortofon VMS 20EO MKII
Cartridge - ГЗМ-050 is similar Ortofon ОMS 15
Cartridge - ГЗМ-005 (ГЗМ-105) has a similar Empire S333 (a little remake shank insert)
Cartridge - ГЗМ-008 (ГЗМ-108) has a similar Shure M95
Cartridge-Unitra has similar Tenorel T2001

gladiator335

06-05-2013, 09:07 AM

That's what we used to call electronic or vacuum "lamps"

V. Eryomin

06-05-2013, 09:37 AM

I know there is an opinion that the Soviet audio is not very reliable. This is true, but you need to know one thing. Buying an old Soviet audio equipment you're 90% receive its faulty. Guilty defective electrolytic capacitors. After replacing them all OK. It's not as scary as it may seem. How could it not seem strange until about 1980 issues such as these capacitors was not. In addition, they continue to work until now. It seems to me that the Soviet Union still then I realized that you can earn not only on the sale of the radio engineering, but also on its repair. Learn our reality? Also now being fed manufacturers of devices and vehicles for the citizens all countries)))

V. Eryomin

06-05-2013, 09:41 AM

That's what we used to call electronic or vacuum "lamps"
Thanks, now I understand!
Vacuum tube audio equipment produced many.
Something you can see here http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rprl.html

guiller

06-05-2013, 12:27 PM

Thanks, now I understand!
Vacuum tube audio equipment produced many.
Something you can see here http://rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rprl.html

Amazing link! Many thanks! Do you have pictures of separate tube preamplifiers and power amplifiers? Let's say, something equivalent to the Dynaco ST-70 or similar. How about amplifiers sold in kit (to be assembled by the user) form?

bazz_77

06-05-2013, 03:55 PM

For example Прибой 50 УМ-204 was (is) infact quite good tube power amplifier. Those were sold many even here in Finland, because they were so cheap. Just needed some tuning and after that, the sound was a real pleasure. Google tells more.

gladiator335

06-05-2013, 04:16 PM

How about amplifiers sold in kit (to be assembled by the user) form?

I don't remember any worth mentioning. There were some but they were low-power amps intended mostly for kids to get into electronics.

But it was so long ago....my memory is not that it used to be :tears::tears::tears:

V. Eryomin

06-06-2013, 03:45 AM

I don't remember any worth mentioning. There were some but they were low-power amps intended mostly for kids to get into electronics.

But it was so long ago....my memory is not that it used to be :tears::tears::tears:

You are right. Mainly selling constructors for the Assembly were intended for children and youths.

guiller

06-06-2013, 07:51 AM

For example Прибой 50 УМ-204 was (is) infact quite good tube power amplifier. Those were sold many even here in Finland, because they were so cheap. Just needed some tuning and after that, the sound was a real pleasure. Google tells more.

Interesting! Thanks for the tip.

PS: pictures look good! It has a double mono configuration and massive transformers. It would be nice to get a hand on one of these beauties.

I don't remember any worth mentioning. There were some but they were low-power amps intended mostly for kids to get into electronics.

But it was so long ago....my memory is not that it used to be :tears::tears::tears:

Thanks for the answer.

V. Eryomin

06-06-2013, 08:31 AM

Amazing link! Many thanks! Do you have pictures of separate tube preamplifiers and power amplifiers? Let's say, something equivalent to the Dynaco ST-70 or similar. How about amplifiers sold in kit (to be assembled by the user) form?

This is an ancient thread but whatever. I just wanted to say that Russia didn't use mil-spec components in their sound equipment. Everything was just overbuilt because no one had high precision machinery so everything was made like it was chopped with an axe. Most workers were lazy and did a half-assed job.
Component grades:
1. Highest- military
2. Medium- industrial machinery
3. Lowest- low quality factory left-overs used to make consumer grade stuff

Whenever a component in the factory was faulty or not up to the lowest standards, it was sold as a spare part. So if something breaks and you buy a replacement component, it was likely that you got a faulty one.

Most cool looking designs were ripped of from foreign audio equipment.

I live next to Russia, and our country used to belong in the Soviet Union, so I know :D

gladiator335

11-14-2013, 12:15 PM

Not exactly true...
There were a lot of places (companies, plants) which had precision equipment (I used to work for one of those).
And as I mentioned before: almost all the components were manufactured to mil-spec.
However those which didn't pass quality test (tolerances or whatever) were used to build consumer electronics.
Most of the stuff looked half-ass built because nobody really cared about design and visual appearance...

I lived there for 40 years....so I know :D

djduck

11-14-2013, 04:20 PM

You're right. Everything was BUILT mil-spec. But the components that made it into the final product were far out of tolerance and precision, not so mil-spec after all.
One thing I do like is the model numbers. Using TTs as an example
3xx 3rd class - piezo cartridge, plastics, cheap metal, simple electronics, noisy and unreliable mechanism, a lot of them were mono
2xx 2nd class - piezo OR MM cartridge, improved electronics and mechanism, Mix of better plastic, metal and wood, more features
1xx 1st class, hi-fi - much better electronics and more reliable, more complex mechanics, always MM cartridges, always stereo
0xx professional and expensive - Best quality, best reliability, new designs, cool looking (just look at that Korvet TT. LOOK AT IT!), much better sound

That "classes" system was revised some time when they raised their standards, so for an example the 1xx was now 2xx

You can tell what is good and what is crap just by looking at the model number.
Component quality was a HUGE problem. The Estonia 010 stereo set was engineered to be one of the best Soviet amps ever, and should have been comparable to some of the most expensive hi-fi gear in the world, but it ended up sounding mediocre at best. And that was due to off-spec components. Engineers at RRR and Estonia admitted that they were very disappointed with the end result.

Here is a story about how they got their designs:
Someone brought an Optonica hi-fi set from Japan. That guy asked the minister that why don't we make something like this, it's awesome. So the minister got all of RET's guys together and told them to build something like that. They just ripped of the design and engineered new guts for it. That's the story of how the Estonia 010 was born :D

And some of their speakers were crap too. Just look at the S90 speakers. Awesome drivers, complicated crossover networks, thick wood, plenty of acoustic damping. They have good bass response, yet, when it comes to mids and highs and detail and clean sound, they perform worse than some boombox "hi-fi" system speakers.

guiller

11-14-2013, 07:04 PM

The above pictures of those doble mono tubed amplifiers look absolutely gorgeous to me, so I guess that there were very good items and perhaps not so good ones and even very badly built ones. Totally reasonable situation to expect from any country in this world, at least IMHO. Deep in my heart I always look at the best that people can offer, and I won´t make an exception in this case, leaving politics aside, as it should, according to AK rules!

gladiator335

11-14-2013, 07:12 PM

That was well said!

djduck

11-15-2013, 01:52 AM

I'm not saying that it was bad stuff, I'm just saying that it's not as good as, say, Japanese stuff and not as good as the people here think it is. For an example a lot of people really like "Brig" branded amplifiers. They are alright, but when compared to Pioneer for an example, It's about as good as some of their lower end amplifiers.

But yes i admit that it looks bad-ass, and when you clean one of those pieces of kit and you re-cap it and replace all out of spec components with brand new ones, then they sound pretty decent, but that investment is going to be bigger than what the damn thing costs. That is why they are cheap, Y-101 amps are about €20 here. They are OK if you just want a big banging stereo but if you want to enjoy your music, then don't get them.

They did make good sounding TTs and tuners, but that is about it.

And I am not counting politics, but the truth is that in case of the USSR, politics influenced everything that was produced, including audio equipment.

markdi

11-15-2013, 02:20 AM

Meee want

Baron K Rool

11-15-2013, 05:42 AM

Here is a story about how they got their designs:
Someone brought an Optonica hi-fi set from Japan. That guy asked the minister that why don't we make something like this, it's awesome. So the minister got all of RET's guys together and told them to build something like that. They just ripped of the design and engineered new guts for it. That's the story of how the Estonia 010 was born :D

And some of their speakers were crap too. Just look at the S90 speakers. Awesome drivers, complicated crossover networks, thick wood, plenty of acoustic damping. They have good bass response, yet, when it comes to mids and highs and detail and clean sound, they perform worse than some boombox "hi-fi" system speakers.

Someone earlier said that it was a Yamaha design that was ripped off.

And that same guy claimed the S-90 was brilliant.

guiller

11-15-2013, 06:53 AM

Just to put things in perspective, I would only feel curiosity in front of the standard gear, and perhaps would buy one just to investigate it further. But if I ever get the chance of being in front of one of those high-end beasts, I'd love to be able to take it home! Perhaps the market of those would be very small and limited to Russia, and specifically to Moscow and Saint Petersbourg, given that the most influential people that presumably got those items lived there?

steerpike2

01-17-2014, 02:25 PM

http://i44.tinypic.com/zu1g21.jpg
Larger version 100AC-063, thats true High End Soviet stuff

That's a Fisher/OTTO STE-1200 (= Sanyo). Otto was a series line of Sanyo (Othophonic Transitorised Technical Operation)

Zombie

01-18-2014, 11:56 AM

The price is often printed on Soviet consumer goods. We can see that the people's electrostate speaker has 250 roubles printed on it. Approximately a montly wage.

screenersam

01-19-2014, 02:35 PM

fwiw...in his time in Russia L H Oswald worked at an electronics factory in Minsk

"Gorizont Electronics Factory, which produced radios, televisions, and military and space electronics."

any info on Gorizont?

Trio

01-19-2014, 10:51 PM

Probably the best person to ask is the author of this site:
http://oldradio.onego.ru/foy.htm

It is interesting to see some of the radios he has on that site. A couple of them or models rather appear in some of the Soviet era movies of Gadai, mostly comedies, but what is interesting is that the colors and patterns of the main character of some of those movies- Shurik, reappeared within the past year or so as the hot colors and pattern.

The radios were not likely widespread, at least not the deluxe models, but they did import some from Germany/West Germany because in one Show series on Mir TV, there was a Saba in the background in one of the more commonly used stage sets.

I think the title, transilliterated is "Kuldavasya Lubova" I would think the odds to be fairly good if one other person outside of eastern Europe has seen it, they would likely be on this site.

However, regardless of the perspectives of the west in that era, to be sure there are many things that would suprise us. I remember people laughing at the long lines outside of Soviet era stores (and no doubt there were distribution issues) but look at the news when a new Iphone or new game system is about to be released- same long lines. Was/were/are our societies all that different? Probably not that much different when you look at details. Aestetics were definitely different, but then again that is true between US, Japan, China, Germany, Britain, you name it.

Did the Soviets care about audio quality? Yes they did actually. Art Blakey and his Blues Messengers had large followings in Europe and behind the iron curtain. Plus, let us not forget classical music.

Sandy G

01-19-2014, 10:59 PM

My dad & I used to go to the big Sunbelt Agriculture Expo in Moultrie, Georgia, starting in the late Seventies, up thru '92 or '93... The Russians had a booth there, they were trying to break into the N. American tractor market, w/one tractor, the "Belarus"... The 1st year I saw them there was '79 or so.. The "Belarus" was VERY crude compared to Western tractors, but they got BETTER significantly over the years, altho the last Isaw of them, they were STILL behind Western designs..

And a Corvette with oil-damped suspension...
http://pictures.topspeed.com/IMG/crop/200712/2009-chevrolet-corvette-z-35_600x0w.jpg

Hmmmm....

Trio

01-20-2014, 02:00 PM

A few things- a "Corvette" is actually little more than an ocean going tugboat with it's own cargo hold that would be hard pressed to do any better than 20 Knots. It predates the GM version which has an oxymoronic name- unless you consider the fact that the 1953, 1954 and early 1955 production had the 235 Stove bolt 6 for an engine. (it was saved by the Thunderbird).

And as for anyone thinking there might be some little metal plaque on or in the factory where Oswald may have worked for a time, there will not be. The USSR and Cuba had zero to gain from the JFK assasination. Regardless of the intrigues and disinfo that is still surrounding those events, JFK was more of a risk to the bankers and the CIA than anything or anyone else. Plus Little was or is made of the fact that John Hinkley Jr.- his parents were neighbors of George H.W. Bush- former CIA chief.

And an older Belarus tractor has a prominent role in a German TV series "Büttenwarder", which might not sell in the US in translation, but the show is entertaining.

We do lose site of the fact that the technology ban regarding the USSR did affect machining ability, which extended to cars trucks and farm tractors. The US made some significant metalforming improvements in the 1960's and well into the 1980's. Some of it was consumer driven to have "next year's model", and some of it was just progress. In that era too, micro-miniaturization was a bit beyond Soviet manufacturing capability and they found it easier to repurpose toys like the "speak and spell" to other applications because they could get them. But the USSR started out at a disadvantage because the Czars did not industrialize Russia unlike the countries of Europe. When the Bolsheviks won in 1917, the last "true" ideologue was Trotsky who came to his end with an axe in Mexico in 1924- the western banking interests made quick inroads into the USSR despite what we were told. But they (the banks) did hold back a great deal because they knew the profits of war, but they gave them "just enough".

Today, Russian Federation is still playing a little bit of "catch up"- but not nearly to the level they were, and it may not be too long before the US and Europe are playing "catch up" to Russia, India and China. Those countries are learning the power of conspicuous consumerism and just begining to apply them. But one thing that is going to hamper the west and to some extent Russia and India- that is the issue of crumbling infrastructure.

Lada and Trabbant were laughed at and ridiculed, but the shoe may be on the other foot as DKW is still around, and Lada is still around, and with the access to the technology they have had and the ethics they have had, their quality level is far better than it was in the Soviet era. People laughed at the late seventies Fiats- never paying attention to the earth moving Fiats, and with their acquisition of Chrysler, they are back in the US car market. No one has stood still- except perhaps US manufacturing (with only a handful of exceptions). It will not be long before China (who makes most of the semiconductors and components) rolls out some premier audio technology of it's own, and to some extent it already has.

We need to learn from history, we also need to recognize that the largest growing markets as well as the largest industrial growth countries are China, India, eastern Europe and the Russian Federation.

Could the Korwet appear at an audio store near you? Maybe, but could you afford it?

gladiator335

01-20-2014, 04:51 PM

Oh that trip down memory lane....
Abovementioned Minsk is the city I was born in and lived for 40 years...:music:

Then it was tube reel to reel Kometa:
http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/mg1/kometa201mg_.jpg

So Beatles from that radio were recorded on a tape....
Then came transistor radio Okean and color TV Gorizont (both were made by the same Gorizont were Oswald was working ):

http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/tw/gorizont_c255.jpg

http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rprl_p/okean208_.jpg

Then it was newer reel to reel (solid state)-Kometa 212:

http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/mg1/kometa212_00_.jpg

And this combo Melodia 103 (big mistake! sort of Soviet Yorx)

http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/melodija103s0_.jpg

And later when I got into DIY and built my own amplifiers I bought this turntable (Vega 120):

http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/wega_ep120s00_.jpg

and those speakers 35-AS1:
http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez2/35as1_.jpg

:music:

guiller

01-20-2014, 05:10 PM

Oh that trip down memory lane....
Abovementioned Minsk is the city I was born in and lived for 40 years...:music:

Thanks for sharing your trip!

gladiator335

01-20-2014, 05:25 PM

It's interesting how this thread keep popping time after time....

Pio1980

01-20-2014, 09:25 PM

Was there a major shift in consumer goods after Stalin? If so how?

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

gladiator335

01-20-2014, 10:12 PM

Was there a major shift in consumer goods after Stalin? If so how?

Hmm, that's the tuff one. First of all there was the war. Nobody cared then about consumer market for obvious reasons.
And after that half of the country was pretty much in ruins and the main proirity was to restore economy and infrastructure.
In general nobody in old USSR really cared about filling consumer market (I'm talking about country leadership). But Stalin was a very unique creature. I'd say monster and let's leave at that without falling into political abyss). And after he died (in 1953) internal policy shifted to what was called "warming". So more attention was paid to retail and consumables. Not as much as needed but more then before.
So probably the correct answer would be Yes - there was a major shift after Stalin died.

Sandy G

01-20-2014, 11:20 PM

I think there is an almost universal "Fascination" w/things Soviet.. I remember the "Gun" market was FLOODED w/Russian/Soviet goods after the Wall fell...Ammo, guns, doohickeys, you name it, it was for sale.. I cabbaged on a 1955 arsenal-redone SKS Russian-made carbine for $150, when new Chinese copies were going for about half that.. Got a Makarov pistol for about the same price, & it came complete w/cleaning kit, leather holster, the whole 9 yards... And even though its about the equivalent of our .380, the damthing shoots UNBELIEVABLY "Hard".. More punishing, in a way, than some of our big Magnums.. The Soviets could come up w/almost anything we here in the West had.. But the LAST little "10/10s" of REFINEMENT, that's where they fell down, I think.. At least that's been MY observation w/Soviet goods... They're ALWAYS a lot cheaper than their Western counterparts.. But all the cleaning kits, leather holsters, etc, simply DOESN'T make up for the fact the pistol kicks like a damn mule, DOESN'T fit yr hand, & is not very pleasant to shoot at all..

nailer

01-21-2014, 01:51 AM

Russian guns work just fine when doing their job. Those directing the fire don't care about the kick/fit.

guiller

01-21-2014, 07:59 AM

The LP domain in the USSR had very good quality standards, at least during the 70's and 80's and in the classical music category. I've got maybe about 500 Melodiya LPs and the vast majority of them have superb quiet vinyl pressings. Recording quality in the USSR was fair and just adequate in the 50's but started to improve in the 60's to attain a very good quality standard, although I've never encountered recording quality at the level of Mercury Living Presence, RCA Living Stereo or Philips classics, for example.

Pio1980

01-23-2014, 09:11 AM

During the 1920s and 1930s US manufacturing reps were brought over to set up production for the industrialization of the SU, Ford set up production for the Model 'T' in the 1920s under Fred Rockelman's direction IIRC, I think Leningrad, and RCA later set up mfgring facilities and tube mfgring. The Soviets consequently used the RCA octal tubeset and standard and later designed their own tubes for the octal base standard. After WW-II German engineering talent was appropriated by both sides and Soviet military commo gear started to take on a German design flavor with generally American style octal tubes. I have in my collection a Stalinist era Komsomolets 'peoples radio' crystal set that the awarded winner of a design competition for the most useful implementation for the 'new' germanium detector diode, the passive parts look like they came off 1930s RCA tooling.

djduck

01-27-2014, 01:55 PM

Oh that trip down memory lane....
Abovementioned Minsk is the city I was born in and lived for 40 years...:music:

Then it was tube reel to reel Kometa:
http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/mg1/kometa201mg_.jpg

So Beatles from that radio were recorded on a tape....
Then came transistor radio Okean and color TV Gorizont (both were made by the same Gorizont were Oswald was working ):

http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/tw/gorizont_c255.jpg

http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rprl_p/okean208_.jpg

Then it was newer reel to reel (solid state)-Kometa 212:

http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/mg1/kometa212_00_.jpg

And this combo Melodia 103 (big mistake! sort of Soviet Yorx)

http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/melodija103s0_.jpg

And later when I got into DIY and built my own amplifiers I bought this turntable (Vega 120):

http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez1/wega_ep120s00_.jpg

and those speakers 35-AS1:
http://www.rw6ase.narod.ru/000/rez2/35as1_.jpg

:music:

We found one of those Rigondas in my friends basement. We wanted to restore it, but it was just in a horrible condition. I did manage to salvage some awesome tubes and transformers off of it. Thing was built like a tank.

That Melodia 103 had a pretty bog standard mechanism with a good tonearm. But the electronics were very unreliable. I had one of those, it worked for about a week and then died. Tried to fix it but just could not bother. I did save the TT mechanism. Those small speakers were pretty crappy too. I traded them for a pair of S30Bs. Those things were awesome. Very good sound and build quality.

I believe that my friend still has one of those suitcase reel to reels in his basement. Are they any good? We thought that we might fix it up and it would make for a nice piece of audio gear and a conversation piece. I think it also has some sentimental value to his family.

Now that i think about it, my Melodia was a B version with the GZM-005 1/2" cartridge. That is why I salvaged it.

gladiator335

01-27-2014, 02:15 PM

Those old RTRs? It definitely would be a cool conversation piece if restored. Not that it had such a spectacular sound quality, but for example record level indicator was that "magic cat eye" tube. Pretty cool.
As far as I remember (and I was a kid back then ) this RTR used to work for a long time without any hickups until someone spilled the whole jar of jam inside it. I guess that person wasn't entirely sober....

Trio

01-27-2014, 03:52 PM

Oh that trip down memory lane....
Abovementioned Minsk is the city I was born in and lived for 40 years...:music:

Here is what I started my "audio" journey with....

My parent's tube radio Rigonda:
[
First taste of rock-n-roll on SW!

Then it was tube reel to reel Kometa:
[

So Beatles from that radio were recorded on a tape....
Then came transistor radio Okean and color TV Gorizont (both were made by the same Gorizont were Oswald was working ):

[

[

Then it was newer reel to reel (solid state)-Kometa 212:

[
And this combo Melodia 103 (big mistake! sort of Soviet Yorx)

[

And later when I got into DIY and built my own amplifiers I bought this turntable (Vega 120):

[

and those speakers 35-AS1:
[

:music:

It is fair to say that even with the "political" differences, the Soviet Union and US/western Europe were more alike than they were different. The language barrier being a big part of that plus the politicians of both countries trying to vilify the other. Which is in part the likely fascination with the vintage Soviet era electronics.

But the interesting things I noted while watching some Gadai movies, is I had to rewind and look at at some scenes again because my eye was drawn to the background, the city panorama's the interiors, etc.

Although it was a little odd with some of the scenes in "Briliantova Rucka" where the one huckster was dancing on the ship's upper deck- you saw in the background a missle launcher.:yes: (Stalin's organ pipe style). So you really developed an appreciation for the risks he and his actors took to make those movies. And I would think too, some of the political minutia you see in "Kidnapping Caucasian Style", (Not racist- it's set in the Caucasus mountains- hence the name), was somewhat realistic in the way it was portrayed in the movie- not the intrigues, but the day to day details of a traveller. The chase scene near the end of the movie itself was a classic and copied more than a few times by western movie makers. The movie also had some interesting radios, but sadly no real high end audio stuff and vehicles as well. And I think it safe to say even the Soviets appreciated the tail fins on cars. Even though the Packard/Zils were quite modest.

All in all, the vintage stuff is just very interesting because it does at times contradict some of the things we were led to believe in the 70's and 80's. Yet at the same time confirms the political neutrality of good music and an appreciation for it.